Motobecane Knowledge Please
 

I have just recieved an email back about a bike I saw listed in some classifieds... the information is as follows from the seller:

"It is a Motobacane made in France Grand Touring bike 24 inches a label on it
says 888 Vitus and some lettering too small for my old eyes. It has the
older style brakes and aluminum wheels."

With the brakes I think he means caliper as I asked him if they were cantilever or caliper being that the only description was "men's 18-speed touring bike". Right now this looks like a good lead and I am going to check it out as soon as I can organise something. but if anyone can give me any info about what year range this might be in, possible components and more infor about vitus tubing I would be grateful. The aluminum wheels pleases me, because it make me think 1980s??? that would be a good score and sounds about my size.

Motobecane used Vitus 888 tubing on some of their midline bikes in the early to mid 80s. It was a decent plain gage tubeset. T Mar probably knows 10 times more about it than me.

I agree with the CardiacKid on the timeframe and level. The Grand Touring seemed to be constantly downgranded over it's lifetime. Originally, it started out with a Reynolds 531DB frame. By the late 1970s, it was Vitus 172. In the early 1980s, it was appearing with Vitus 888 plain gauge.

Assuming circa 1983/1984, other components should be Stronglight 99 triple crankset, Weinmann centre-pull brakes, 6 speed Maillard Helicomatic hubs laced to 27" Weinmann concave rims and the excellent Huret Duopar derailleur combined with ratchet shifters. Bars, stem and post are aluminum.

The bicycle is quite nice, but missing some of the touches of the better grand touring models, such as triple bottle bosses, bar end shifters and 40 spoke rear wheels. Catalog specs indicate a rear rack was included, but the pictures don't show one. Advertised weight was 27 lb and original cost was in the range of $350 - $375 US.

(Edit 01/27: The earliest imported GT models, circa 1972/1973, used 1020 hi-tensile tubesets. The 531 version came later. Thxs to CV-6 for prompting me on my error.)

Here are some photos of my '83 GT just after I purchased it last year, mostly original:
http://www.duke.edu/~jhe3/Motobecane_GT.htm

Did I say 10 times? I meant 100 times.

Thanks guys, it was everything you said it would be but not what he said. He didn't do a very good job of measuring and it was a size too small. Oh well, he had some other bikes he wanted to sell. So I grabbed a 63cm Norco Victory, full tange 900 (if you know anything about the tubign grade that would be good), the bike is a 1985, with black suzue hubs and black ukai 700c rims. it even has the 600 pedals, it's in great shape and only cost 80 bucks Canadian. The craftsmanship isn't spectacular, but it is made in Japan... anyway the moto looks exactly like Jack with the original leather bar coverings (I don't think you would call it tape), If anyone is really interested in a ~59cm motobecane GT let me know, I could go back for it.

The Victory was Norco's top-of-the-line model in the mid-1980s, though in the big picture it was more of a mid-range model. At the time, Norco was the Nishiki distributor in Canada. Nishiki frames were buit by Kawamura, so it's possible that the Victory is a Kawamura manufactured frame. If so, we may be able to tell by the serial number.

Tange 900 was double CrMo tubeset with wall thickness and weights that were comparable to Tange #2. However, it is seamed tubing, which was less expensive to produce.

Everything you mentioned matches the specs. The hubs should be the only major components that are not Shimano New 600EX. The 1986 was virtually identical, with the exception of silver rims, so yours does appear to be the 1985 model. The frame should be black with a silver head tube and a chrome fork. Advertised weight was 22.5 lb. I don't have the original price, but comparable models were selling around $450 US, so you did well.

My 1983 Motobecane Grand Touring - 63.5cm
 

My 1983 Motobecane Grand Touring - 63.5cm

More pictures and the 1984 cataloge page can be found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/9765217...7622453592136/

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2599/...3116e263_b.jpg